What Is A Sleep Cycle?

While you are zzz’ing, your body is busy rebuilding, restoring and renewing as it goes through 4 different cycles on its nightly roller coaster ride we call sleep.

Awake: Awake in bed, that is. This is the time spent before falling asleep and those brief waking moments in the middle of the night.

Light Sleep: You are drifting in and out. Muscles relax, respiration slows, heart rate decreases, body temperature drops and you…are…falling…asleep…

Deep Sleep: Super restorative. This is when your body repairs.  Blood flow to muscles increases. Cell repair occurs.  The brain shows long, slow brain waves as it flushes out waste and toxins that accumulate in the brain during the day. Wake up now and you are super groggy.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep: This is the good stuff.  REM sleep re-energizes your brain and is essential for feeling rested and staying healthy. You will go through 3-5 REM cycles per night with each one getting longer as the night progresses.  This is where vivid dreams happen and luckily, your body becomes immobile so you don’t act out your dreams. (It's your body looking out for you).

After the REM sleep cycle you might wake up (those of us with kids know this well!) but most likely you won't.  And the cycle begins again, each lasting about 90 minutes.

Make your hours in bed high quality and make them count. It all begins with your mattress.  If it’s over 7 years old or feeling not as supportive as you'd like, now is the perfect time to not only purchase a new mattress but consider trading up for a truly luxurious sleep. Go from a Full to a Queen or a Queen to a King-sized mattress.  Tweens and teens at home? Consider moving them from a Twin to a Full because they need all the first-rate sleep as they can get.

Emma + Oliver has mattresses for every member of your family.  New mattress, new bed:  Shop our beds & headboards and bed & mattress sets for affordable and inspired ideas to match your unique style.  There’s no better time to make your bed.